Promoted!
The scent of burned coffee - maybe it was the shit that the mechanic brewed with gunpowder - filled the galley and permeated even into the cargo bay, which as of yet was eerily empty. The captain planned to remedy that, he had a deal brewing, but first, the crew. He reluctantly peeled off a few more bills, before picking up the mic in the galley, clicking it on. “What’s his name again? The rooster kid?” “Jat. Vas Jat.” Riley replied as she leaned against the wall, arms folded across her chest. “Jat Vas Jat to the galley.” The captain spoke into the com. “If you’re on the ship, Jat Vas Jat, come on to the galley, son.” “It’s just --” Riley started, but she decided to let it go. Vas still feeling somewhat still twitchy about the whole Hen-Leo shit storm happening huffed hoping this wasn’t a boot about the fall from up on high. He loped on to the galley. “Wazzup Captain?” Vas said trotting to the galley. ~Oh please don’t ask me to cook.~ While Riley rolled her eyes at the informal greeting, the Captain rolled with it. “Son, you have any plans for the day?” He asked. :Err … the only plans I have are the ones you give me.” Vas perked. “You have me minding the chair for passengers at the moment.” The punk reminded wondering if the Captain had already forgotten. “Riley can take care of that.” He voluntold, to which the Lieutenant snorted. “Listen, I want to send….” He snapped his fingers a few times trying to jar his memory. “Gill and Haddie,” Riley offered, but the Captain shook his head no. “Half Pint and Quart?” The Captain snapped his fingers and nodded his head. “Half Pint and the Quart to a fair I passed outside of town. I was hoping, given the nature of, you know --” He made a stabbing motion with his hand. “You wouldn’t mind tagging along, keeping an eye on things?” “So you want me to make sure Half Pint don’t go stab happy on all the little boys and girl's or the duo giving themselves the five finger discount?” Vas asked making sure that was what the captain was implying. “He’s saying--” Riley interjected “That if anything goes off the rails, he’d like you to contain the situation before it gets out of hand. It seems to be one of your fortes. Little bit does have sticky fingers, and not just from the cotton candy. Some people might find that reason to get angry. And she did stab the fed in the box, there’s that too. Captain wants you to go and chaperone.” “I’m saying that.” The Captain agreed with a nod and a point to his Lieutenant. Vas had to wonder if they were picking the right person for the job or not but he wasn’t going to argue his apparent good behavior! “Sure. I make sure the town doesn't riot on our budding serial killer.” He joked. “That’s the spirit!” The captain said, clapping the younger man on the shoulder. “Advance.” Riley prompted. “Right! Advance. This is to make sure that everyone has a good time. Make sure they get lots of sugar, and maybe ride something until they throw up.” He handed Jat Vas Jat the bills he’d earlier taken from his cash stash. “Good idea sir … feed them and then make them throw up ... “ Vas wasn’t sure that was a good idea but he was going to roll with it. “Kids like that sort of thing.” The captain agreed. “All right, you’re free to --” Riley cleared her throat, causing the Captain to turn around to look at her, and the pilot gave him a rolling hand gesture which Keller took a moment to realize he was supposed to continue with something. “And thank you?” He added. Riley let out a long breath of air, massaging her temples at the same time, the vein she had in her forehead reserved for such situations starting to throb. “The Captain had wanted to offer you a new position on board the ship.” She prodded. “Right! Yes. Right. The lieutenant tells me that you’ve been working your ass off. Lead deckhand, you’re learning to fly, you help out in the galley --” “He doesn’t help out in the galley.” “You stay out of the galley. Point is, you hustle, you get shit done. And hard work gets rewarded. How’d you feel about taking over as crew chief?” “What happened to the old crew chief?” Vas asked flashing a wary look between Riley and Keller. “Did we HAVE a crew chief before?” The Captain and Riley exchanged grimaces thinking back to the last time they had an official crew chief and what happened to him. “We didn’t.” The captain offered, pointing to the three of them. “We did.” He pointed between himself and Riley. “So the Lieutenant has been acting as the interim crew chief, and we’ve decided it’s time to pass the torch. It’s a big responsibility, but I think you can handle it. We think you can handle it.” “Oh! Okay! That's shiny!” Vas perked. “Cool a promotion!” Here Vas was a bit worried over nothing. “Arrite … I’ll go round up the land roaming piranhas! Wish the town luck … any clue where they went?” “Ask the crew chief.” Riley quipped. “It’s their responsibility to know the whereabouts of the crew.“ “Har har … I get it.” Vas said dryly poking the intercom. “Thing 1 and Thing 2 please report to the galley for a fun-filled stab-free day at the fair. Where vast amounts of sweets, games, and vomit inducing rides will take place in exchange for a day of good behavior. There may even be a pony ride and a petting zoo.” He took his finger off the intercom. “That should get their attention.” “I’ll leave you a list of your new responsibilities.” Riley offered helpfully. Seeing the new person they ust hired, she nodded to him. “You lost already? Morgan Wren, this is Captain Keller, and Vas Jat. Captain, Crew Chief. He’s a new hire. Jat has the majority of the day off, but I’m sure he’ll put you to work when he gets back. You might want to enjoy some downtime - you won’t get much of it when we hit the black. If you’ll all excuse me -- I have passenger bunks to peddle. Give a yell if you need anything. Jat - “ The lieutenant extended a hand. “Congratulations.” “Thanks, Lieutenant.” Vas smiled as she went off to mind ‘the Chair’. “I’m taking our resident piranha people to the fair if you didn’t hear. There ain’t much to do at the moment so like the Captain said best enjoy the downtime while you got it.” He shrugged looking the new guy over.